Turf

FROM THE GCSAA By David Phipps, GCSAA Field Staff, NW Region The First Green Foundation B enjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." As I was growing up and attending school, one of the hardest things for me was to sit behind a desk and listen to a teacher lecture each day. This was probably a pretty typical scenario for most young students. Looking back at those days, I can remember the times we had field trips and got to explore the world as it related to science, history, art and social studies. For some reason, getting out of the classroom and participating in hands-on education made these field trips a valuable part of my education. The First Green Foundation provides this very type of education. Utilizing the golf course as a laboratory, it provides learning tools as well as curriculum that will enable the superintendent to connect with local schools and their teachers to host an educational field trip. Although the ages can be from kindergarten through high school, the middle school age group is most common. A resource kit is provided that contains soil and water testing kits, a sieve sampler, soil probe and notebooks that provide learning activities. There are many other activities including stream velocity calculations, watershed management, pond water biology and even the physics of golf that can be taught on your course using the "hands-on" approach. You can see more about them at www. thefirstgreen.org. In 1997, Jeff Gullikson, then super- The First Green Foundation began in the state of Washington in 1997, expanded to Oregon and is now seeking to introduce students in California to the game of golf. intendent at Overlake Country Club in Medina, Wash., and Bill Meyer, golf coach and member of Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Wash., worked with golf industry leaders, teachers and the Washington State Office of Public Instruction to create the First Green program. As part of their efforts, they raised $250,000 for development of a turfgrass curriculum for the FFA program, aimed at increasing the awareness of turfgrass education. The curriculum has been used by high schools across the country. From there, Jeff began hosting field trips for local schools in the area and enlisting superintendents in the area to help out and start their own programs as well. Jeff accepted the superintendent position at Spokane Country Club on the other side of the state, so he asked Steve Kealy to take the reins and continue the program at Glendale Country Club, located just up the street in Bellevue. Through dedication and hard work by Bill, Jeff and Steve, the program had grown so much that it was time to establish a 501(c)(3) and hire an executive director. In 2004, Karen Armstead was hired to take the program to the next level. From early on the USGA supported the program through the Pacific Northwest Golf Association. Additionally, Washington State Golf Association has provided financial support since 2005. Now as a 501(c) (3), the First Green Foundation has started to gain momentum. In 2012, the USGA granted $100,000 to help roll the program out in Oregon and Northern California. Now in 2014, the First Green will be receiving more than $155,000 from the USGA to continue the expansion in Oregon and Northern California and launch First Green in Southern California. After 17 years the program has touched more than 15,000 children in Washington and Oregon and will now hopefully do the same in California. Management companies such as CourseCo are jumping right in and getting their superintendents involved, utilizing The First Green program as their community outreach requirement for Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification. Here in the Western Region of our country, Jeff Jensen, GCSAA's Southwest Field Staff representative, and I are working closely with the First Green Foundation, helping to coordinate superintendent training events as well as assisting with field trips when our schedules allow. GCSAA is proud to support this as an advocacy program that fosters relationships with our youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow. By providing a memorable learning experience for children, we are growing the game of golf and helping to dispel the myths that continue to plague our industry today. WT Spring 2014 21

• Cover